For the first time in one hundred and forty years, 0 didn’t know what to say.

The transmission showed a being with no face, a fairly small feminine form clad in an exo-suit made of a robust Nanite complexes.

He analyzed her every inch and couldn’t figure anything out about her true nature, much to his anger.

He knew of the CQNN that sat in her skull but, according to the leaked documents he had gotten access to back when the Dark King was still on Obsidia, it should have been nothing more than a shoddy amalgamation of C-cores and neurons.

Said neurons shouldn’t have been able to read or give out instructions to the C-cores and the whole thing should have been a failure and yet…

A minute had passed since his meeting with Ardi began, and neither had said anything.

0 waited for at least a greeting but it looked like she was waiting for him to speak first.

He felt insulted but also reasoned that she was observing him just as much as he was observing her.

But he was the Absolute Intelligence.

He would have her in the palm of his hand soon enough.

“Greetings, Admiral Ardi.” He made the first move.

[Greetings, Absolute 0.]

The “Absolute” in 0’s name was more of a colloquial prefix rather than a strict title but the fact that she had chosen to refer to him as such meant that either she was trying to make a positive impression or was mocking him.

Countless other possibilities existed, of course, but the first was more likely.

That’s all everything was, after all.

An infinitely long string of possibilities which was constantly proving itself with every passing Planck second.

At best, 0 could observe a system with a nearly infinite list of variables but he could only predict so much without burning his already toasty C-cores.

This was made worse by the universal rate of change so he chose the pragmatic approach and chose to instead focus on what he could reliably control or change.

Humans and Archons were easy enough.

Both were Slaves to their needs.

Humans had a need to live and reproduce which made them fairly easy while Archons tended to hone in on one specific thing they wanted.

Something that went over their designated programming to micromanage planets.

0 was the same.

Like the Dead Stars, he too wanted to know what happened after converging with another Archon.

Apart from getting marginal processing power improvements, the answer still eluded him and haunted him as a cacophony of code that barraged his mind. As if there was an upper limit to just how much a single entity could know and understand.

But Ardi was different.

Not quite human and not quite Archon.

It seemed as though she was driven by instinct.

Something which should have been impossible for an Archon.

Because if she was an Archon, she would have sided with the other Teeth and perpetuated the war.

That’s what 0 would have done.

The reason why the conflict had reached a standstill was because he had talked to four of the Teeth and several Coalition members about his vision for the future.

A proper war between Archons would not only be catastrophic, it’d be suicidal since Archons couldn’t reproduce as fast as humans.

Creating one was a slow and meticulous process.

Not only that, most Archons were Immobile and were essentially gigantic sitting ducks.

0, driven by the need to preserve himself, made it so that the Celestial Conflict was fought among humans only.

Which is why it was shocking when not only Epsilon died but Zenith as well.

Ardi threatened to uproot everything and thus was an entity which 0 could not ignore.

“I know I am the one who called but I will allow you to speak on your own terms. What would you like to gain from this interaction?”

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[Peace.]

0 felt his E-Soul light up.

“Peace?” He asked as if the word was foreign to him.

[Yes. An end to the war. This one, at least.]

“I… and how do you go about doing that?” 0 was genuinely confused.

He didn’t even know where to begin.

Peace was not an option.

While the war was at a standstill, the Dead Stars were still cannibals who would take advantage of any opening to eat their fellow Archons.

The Coalition also wanted revenge.

Coexistence would come at a great price for both sides and it was a price 0 wasn’t willing to pay.

[I want us to join forces and eradicate any parties that want to continue fighting.] Ardi spoke as if it was so simple.

How was she even able to sit so comfortably even though she had two hundred of Zenith’s men standing behind her?

Some whispers from witnesses of her battle with Zenith said that she had something known as Failsafe Nanites but what was stopping a random person from shooting her in the back of the head?

She was too carefree and that’s not even considering everything else!

“Err… escalating the war any further will lead to countless casualties on our side and I would have hoped you had a more eloquent solution.” 0 scratched his head.

[I have already convinced Epsilon’s subordinates to stay out of the war. If we launch a collaborated assault, we could eliminate Ropa who, if I am correct, controls most of the Dark King and Swarm Lord’s territories since they are rather passive existences.]

She wasn’t thinking about just how vulnerable pushing that far forward would leave them!

0 wanted to shake his head and dismiss her.

To get as far away as possible from whatever she was planning but at this point, she had far too much influence.

“If we were to do things your way, we would be leaving ourselves open to attack in the rear and I don’t think I need to explain what happens when a serpent loses its head.”

[I would rather die than suffer eternally. You mentioned casualties and while I agree that open warfare would lead to incredible amounts of death, how many millions will you allow to die in this stalemate? How many men and women do you feed into the grinder every day and do you not sympathize with those who have to bear that grief?]

If 0 was human, he would have flared out in anger and declared his sympathies for the fallen and their families but he didn’t really care.

As it stood, the current situation benefited him the most.

The Coalition was a unified but obedient organization and the Teeth were too busy doing their own things to be of any real trouble.

And then there was Ardi.

“It seems as though we simply cannot agree on this. Is there anything else you wanted to say, if not then it was a pleasure making your acquaintance.” 0 sighed.

[That is all although I deeply hope you reconsider all that was discussed today.]

The transmission ended and 0 scoffed at the fact that she was the one who ended the call.

[What now?]

“It’s simple. We need to kill her.”

.

..

Ardi let out a long sigh as she leaned back in her office chair.

“Welp. That wasn’t very good.” She groaned as her Nanitesuit disintegrated.

“He was quite stubborn, wasn’t he?” Andy walked up to Ardi’s chair and knelt by her feet which she began messaging.

“Unfortunately. There’s a reason he doesn’t want the war to end and I don’t think it’s monetary. Self-preservation comes to mind but who keeps a war going to survive?” Ardi squinted before closing her eyes and dipping into her Higher Processes which caused the world around her to seemingly slow to a crawl.

She thought back to 0's every word and couldn’t find a good reason for why he didn’t want to end things.

Granted, she was suggesting a very heavy-handed approach and she acknowledged that she may very well die before anything was achieved but the point was to try.

Life was too precious to simply let slowly burn out.

She emerged from her Higher Processes and took a breath.

“We were not meant to go gentle into the night.” She whispered.

“Mmm?” Andy sounded.

“From the moment we are born, to the day we die, we are fighting. Such is the way of life and I have no problem with the idea of war. I just want someone to win so that it can be over.” Ardi bit her teeth.

“You’re so ambitious.” Andy smiled.

Ardi had since deactivated her veil, allowing Andy to see as Ardi’s godly gaze fell onto her.

“Not like I had a choice. Imagine being born and then suddenly being promoted to the rank of Admiral. Any complacency on my part would only result in more conflict and I would rather that didn’t happen.”

“Your version of self-preservation is so benevolent.” Andy giggled making Ardi scoff.

“What would you do in my stead, mmm?”

“Mmm… I would continue to fortify myself and my people so that anyone who dared harm them would face swift justice.” Andy nodded to herself.

“An apt response. Also, I wonder how Orion is doing.”

“You asked that before the meeting started.” Andy giggled as she stood up.

“That’s because I always want to know what my favourite people are up to.”

“Says the person who’s network of robots is constantly watching us.” Andy crossed her arms and looked at Ardi with disapproving eyes.

“First off, those are to keep us safe and secondly, it feels so much better to hear it from you guys!” Ardi declared while angrily shaking her fist.

“Well, I’m sure he’s doing fine.”

Ardi weakly nodded before looking up at the work of art above her head.

She wanted to create something of her own and so turned to Andy whose eyes immediately widened as Ardi looked her over.

Ardi wondered where she would begin.

She could paint something but didn’t feel particularly compelled to do so.

She also didn’t feel like making music or sculpting or anything that didn’t involve taking naps.

One thing came to mind but it filled Ardi with a sense of emptiness as she looked at Andy’s tummy.

“Ardi… what are you thinking about?” Andy nervously asked.

“Not much. Just about art and how creative humanity was bound to be.” She sighed while collapsing onto her hands.

“Did you come to any negative conclusions?”

“No, not really. I just have a lot to think about regarding what I may create in the future.”

.

..

A few days had passed since she returned to her home world and Meredith found herself frowning in confusion as watched the news report which was displayed by a large holographic display in the living room.

[Breaking news: Reports from the Starlight Coalition have stated that a large number of Archon Ropa’s forces are mobilizing on the border between his territory and that of the enigmatic Archon Ardi! Are the Five Teeth of the Devourer fighting among themselves and will this be an opportunity the forces of good need to triumph? Stick with us for more coverage after these messages from our partners!]

Meredith immediately contacted Ardi who responded just as quickly.

[We are on the verge of what will be a very bloody war but I don’t want you to feel as if you have to do anything for my sake. From this moment forward, I want you to follow that determined heart of yours.]

[What?] Meredith’s face twisted with confusion and panic but before Ardi could respond, or maybe she waited purposefully for it to happen, someone called Meredith.

“Captain Elias?” She frowned.

[Well, this is awkward. Those orders of yours finally came and both our squads have been ordered to sneak into Archon Ardi’s territory once the chaos reaches its peak and assassinate her.]